Math Journals: Getting Thinking Out of the Head

By Laura Lurns · Reviewed by Philip Weaver · Last reviewed 2026-10-29

What "getting thinking out of the head" means

To us, a lot of math work asks only for the answer. A math journal asks for the steps too.

In our view, a math journal is a place to show how your child got an answer, in words, pictures or numbers.

So the title is about putting the steps on the page. Then you and your child can look at them together. To us, steps give you more to talk about than one number.

A journal is not a test. In our view, nothing in it is marked right or wrong. If an answer is wrong, the steps give you both something to look at.

Words, pictures or numbers all count

A journal entry does not have to be sentences. Here is what counts, in our view.

• A picture. Five apples drawn in a row. Two crossed out.
• Numbers. 7 + 5 = 7 + 3 + 2 = 12.
• A few words. "I made a ten first."
• A drawn line. Hops along a number line, with a number on each hop. Our page on number line activities shows how to draw one.

This list is our own practice, not a tested method.

In our view, a picture is a full answer, not a lesser one.

When writing is hard

Some children find writing hard. The math may be fine. Getting the words down is the slow part.

For a child who finds writing hard, let them say it while you write it down.

Then read it back. Ask, "Is that what you meant?" Let them change it. Let them add a drawing if they want.

You can also take turns. Your child draws the problem. You write the words under it. In our view, the journal is for the math, not for practicing handwriting.

A simple routine

Here is how we would start.

1. Pick one problem your child has already done in their math work.
2. Ask one question about it. The prompts are below.
3. Let your child answer in words, a picture or numbers.
4. If writing is hard, they say it and you write it.
5. Put the date at the top of the page.
6. Stop after a few minutes. Say when it will end before you start.

These steps are our own practice, not a tested method.

In our view, a short entry beats a long one your child dreads.

Math journal prompts

Pick one prompt at a time. These are ours.

• "How did you get it?"
• "Draw what the problem looks like."
• "What was tricky?"
• "Can you do it another way?"
• "What would you tell a friend who got stuck?"
• "What do you want to remember from today?"

These prompts are our own. No study we hold tested them.

Start with "How did you get it?" To us, it is the easiest to answer. Save "Can you do it another way?" for a problem your child found easy.

What the research we hold says, and where it stops

The studies on this page were done in school. Writing was part of class teaching.

A 2020 review pooled 56 experiments in grades 1 to 12 (Graham, Kiuhara and MacKay, 2020). Writing about what they were learning, as part of class teaching, helped students learn. That held in math as well as other subjects. We could read only its summary.

An earlier review looked at 48 school writing programs (Bangert-Drowns and colleagues, 2004). Overall, writing to learn helped how students did in school. The authors say research before theirs was unclear. The review's summary does not say if math was one of the subjects. We could read only its summary.

We hold no study of math journals for children who find writing hard. We hold no study of journals kept at home, outside math teaching. That is a gap in what we hold, not a finding that journals do not help.

Nothing in the studies on this page tested a Learning Success program.

Do these activities alongside your child's math instruction, not in place of it.

When to ask for help

Each of these is a reason to ask for help on its own.

• Little change, even with steady practice and good teaching.
• Math well below your child's other schoolwork.
• A teacher who raises a concern about math.
• Extreme upset about math.
• Complete avoidance of math.
• Worry about math that spreads into the rest of learning.
• Sadness or worry that lasts.
• A skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.

If no skill has gone, start with the teacher. Say what you are seeing at home, and what you have tried. Beyond the teacher, the right person depends on what it turns out to be about. If the work is too hard, someone who works on that school skill. If worry or mood is the thing, someone who works with children's mental health. In our view, if you are worried enough to ask, a professional evaluation is worth asking about.

Any talk of hurting themselves is a same-day call to your doctor or a crisis line.